


to be twisted by something (a shame without a sin)

by cold_rain_in_june



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Denial of Feelings, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Angst, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I Wrote This While Listening to Hozier's Music, Jason-centric, M/M, Nail Polish, Pre-Relationship, Secret Relationship, Sort Of, Underage Drinking, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, kind of, like they're not even together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27829057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cold_rain_in_june/pseuds/cold_rain_in_june
Summary: “What?” Percy asks again, with less amusement, his brows turned into a deep v cut along his forehead. And yet he appears more worried than angered. (One of the small amount of things Jason knows for sure is that he’ll never be truly able to understand Percy’s expressions to their entire integrity. One could be under the impression that three years or so of glorified rivalry would make him better at this, but Percy Jackson has always been an exception in the grand scheme of things and Jason would never ask for more than he can get).Or Jason's bad at feelings.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson & Grover Underwood, Jason Grace & Piper McLean & Leo Valdez, Jason Grace/Percy Jackson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	to be twisted by something (a shame without a sin)

**Author's Note:**

> wish i had an explanation for this. the point is that i had this idea for some time (time may be the most adequate word for it since i'm no sure if it's been an year or three, but here we are). i know this has little to no context but i'll explore this au more if I get the inspiration to, definitely not in the chronological order since I threw that out of the window when I started writing this, which is closer to the ending that to anything else. anyway this is 0% proofread, hope you enjoy this hot mess.
> 
> title from run by hozier

“Are you going to marry that bottle or what?” the sharp tone of his voice startles Jason from his intensive study of the whiskey bottle. As struck by lightning, he drops it from his reddened hands, drawing a hiss out of Percy even as it lands on the plush surface of the blanket. It takes the Jason a few breaths to glance from his hands to the bottle, back to his hands, and finally to the other boy, who is looks at him with a half amused, half curious expression, tilting his heads to the side, as if he is trying to understand Jason's disaster train of thoughts, or maybe he just thinks he's ridiculous. Jason can't decide which scenario he loathes the most.

“What?” Percy asks again, with less amusement, his brows turned into a deep v cut along his forehead. And yet he appears more worried than angered. (One of the small amount of things Jason knows for sure is that he’ll never be truly able to understand Percy’s expressions to their entire integrity. One could be under the impression that three years or so of glorified rivalry would make him better at this, but Percy Jackson has always been an exception in the grand scheme of things and Jason would never ask for more than he can get).

“I, um-” he’s trying to push down the thorns pressing on his vocal chords.

“You?”

“Can you paint my nails too?” Jason finally manages to choke out, gesturing to Percy’s own freshly painted nails, that have been drying while he was dancing on Jason's bed just a moment earlier.

As composed as Percy appeared when he was forcing eye contact with his too green eyes, just the sufficient amount of green to be impossible to ignore, he noticeably got baffled by the request. Jason wonders what else he was expecting to say.

It takes a few seconds of awkward silence for Percy to mutter something that was most likely supposed to be a “yeah sure,” and to go get the bottle of nail polish they stole from Thalia’s room (along with the whiskey). He returns to the bed and now they’re both sitting cross-legged, facing each other, Jason’s hand cradled in Percy’s lap. Maybe it’s the fact that they're still both dazed by the bone freezing outside weather, or the whiskey bottle laying next Jason's thigh, or the way Percy handles his hand with too much care, far too tender for the person he constructed to be Jason Grace, but the moment weights heavy on his chest, dangerously close to the left side.

Looking back at it, he doesn't know why he took Thalia’s bottle. He doesn't drink and Percy only took a swig before handing it back to him. (He’ll later come to the conclusion that Percy doesn't drink as much as he would normally do when he’s around Jason. Maybe out of politeness, or out of embarrassment, or maybe he just likes being stone sober when he stares into Jason's souls like it's nobody’s business). The sincere admission would be that he just liked the idea of pleasing Percy and the whiskey happened to be the shortest road to it. However, Jason isn't so keen on admitting such a thing. He’s not that further down the rabbit hole just yet.

As soon as it came, the moment passes and Percy puts the cap on the nail polish bottle. He helps Jason lie down on his back, with his hands above his head, resting them on the headboard as to not mess up his hard work. Later, Jason won't be able to put together what happened next, though he’ll remember a slow song starting on as he drifts-off to sleep, and then Thalia waking him up next morning, so he’d be on time for his football practice, by complimenting his manicure. Although he’ll notice the three things missing: the nail polish, the whiskey bottle and of course, Percy.

(It makes the weight on his chest noticeable again, but in the end they both know that Percy was smart to leave before Thalia got home).

He’ll carry on to his day, shrugging absently when Piper and Leo joke about him getting more emo everyday, and keeping his eyes on his locker when he sees Percy, Annabeth and Grover pass him down the hall. (They are past the time when Annabeth would flip them off everytime she saw them, and when Jason would avoid Percy’s eyes out of aversion to conflict, rather than a resistance to temptation. They are civil now, yes, but ogling at Percy in the middle of the hallway would tip off even the most oblivious people that something was up).

(And once arriving home, he’ll go to his sister's room to see if she would be there. Instead, he’ll see the black nail polish bottle on her desk, unmoved, as if it was there all this time, so he’ll crawl down on the floor to check under her bed, just to find the whiskey bottle right where he took it from the other night, only a little emptier.

To hell if he’ll ever understand Percy Jackson)


End file.
